It looks like Rae Vogeler and I are thinking along the same lines these days.
The headlines read like a nightmare we can't wake up from. Government spy agencies are running an extensive network to keep tabs on the civilian population. People are being grabbed off the street and disappeared into a network of secret prisons run by secret police. Prisoners are not told why they are arrested, how long they will be held for, what they are charged with or if they will ever see their day in court. The government is maintaining it doesn't use torture, it just uses 'aggressive' interrogation techniques: you know, things like waterboarding, sensory deprivation and confinement in coffin-size rooms for months on end. The government plans to create its own kangaroo courts where prisoners can be sentenced to death based on coerced testimony and evidence that the prisoner is not allowed to see. Human rights organizations around the world are up in arms demanding that basic rights be respected, but the government is maintaining that the old rules just don't apply.
Ten years ago, you would have thought I was describing Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Twenty-five years ago, it would have been Idi Amin's Uganda. Fifty years ago you would have sworn I was talking about the excesses of Stalinism.
What has happened to us that in 2006 you know I am talking about the United States?
Visit Rae's site for more...
Tags: news politics torture civil rights human rights terrorism crime law
1 comments:
I’m so glad you are supporting Rae. She’s an amazing person! I’m actually interning for her and trying to coordinate all wisconsin school campuses to spread the word. I would love it if you could post the Students4Vogeler blog on your site to promote Rae. Thanks!
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